 |
|
|
New industrial policy announced
Industrial security force to be wound up
Haryana plans waiver scheme for power defaulters
Police parties on trail of Pataudi, others for poaching
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12-year-old raped
Father kills 2-month-old son
62 JBT teachers await joining duties
Selja takes stock of flood prevention steps
Notices issued for not
vacating official houses
Car-borne youths loot Rs 64,622 from bank
Committee to examine gurdwara panel issue
Man electrocuted while stealing wire
Migrant electrocuted
Thieves strike at 2 chemist shops
21 booked on charge of bogus voting
|
|
New industrial policy announced
Chandigarh, June 6 Briefing newspersons here after a meeting of the state Cabinet, Mr Hooda said the policy, apart from introducing new initiatives and incentives, also specified the role of the government in facilitating entrepreneurs to make Haryana the most preferred destination of industry. Mr Hooda said that the new policy had the objectives of re-establishing industry as a key driver of economic growth, creating wealth for the residents and improving the quality of life and generating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for all sectors of the economy. Mr P.K. Chaudhery, Principal Secretary, Industry, said the new policy envisaged the generation of 1 million jobs and attracting investment worth $ 40 billion over the next decade. It also aimed at facilitating the spatial dispersal of economic activities by bringing economically and socially backward areas in the industrial scene of the state. Mr Hooda said certain areas, which had been identified after analysing their growth potential and long-term sustainability, would continue to be the thrust areas. These thrust areas included the agro-based and food-processing industry, electronics and information and communication technology, automobiles and automotive components, handloom, hosiery, textile and garments manufacturing, export-oriented units and footwear, leather garments and accessories. While defining the role of the state, the Chief Minister said the government was committed to providing good governance that would ensure transparency, reduction in transaction costs, efficiency and citizen-centric delivery of public services. He said with these objectives, an e-governance roadmap would be prepared for implementation in fixed time-frame. This roadmap would comprise the modernisation of administrative processes, electronic delivery of services, e-procurement, convergence of delivery points, and citizen’s access to public information. The government would pass an Industrial promotion Act and formulate rules to make it mandatory for various departments and authorities to provide clearances within a fixed time-frame. District and state-level clearance committees would be constituted under the Act to receive applications for all clearances to set up industrial units, review and monitor the processing of applications and forward the orders of the competent authorities to the applicants. These committees would be the final authorities for the grant of approvals. Such approvals would be binding on all departments concerned. The proposed Act would empower the state government to prescribe a composite application form and it would be mandatory for all departments and authorities to accept it. The Act would also empower the state government to prescribe a time limit for the processing and disposal of applications. While announcing the decision of the government to do away with the system of “inspector raj”, Mr Hooda said the government would introduce a self-certification scheme in respect of labour laws so as to curtail unnecessary visits of inspectors and streamline the inspection
process. Outside agencies would be authorised to grant approvals to create an investor-friendly environment. The authority to approve building plans would be conferred upon architects registered under the Architects Act, 1972. Selected engineers known as Chartered Engineers possessing the requisite qualifications of inspectors under Sections 7 and 8 of the Indian Boilers Act, 1923, would be authorised for registration, annual inspection and renewal of certificates in respect of boiler. Similarly, the government would authorise selected engineers possessing requisite qualifications to perform the duty of inspector under The Standard of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985, to verify and stamp weights and measures. He said under the pollution control regulations, there would be no requirement of sampling in the case of Green Categories of industries except for diesel generating sets of more than 62.5 KVA. The application form for obtaining a no-objection certificate or consent under water or air pollution Acts would be simplified to facilitate electronic filling and transmission through a portal. The definition small scale industry of the Government of India would apply for the grant of exemption from the consent mechanism. Industries which did not fall in any of the three identified categories of polluting industries would not be required to obtain the NOC or consent under the water Act in case the unit was set up in the industrial estates developed by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation or the Haryana Urban Development Authority or the Industry Department. He said the services sector, especially tourism, transport, education, health and financial services, would be developed. The government would also provide support to small and medium enterprises and enhance export competitiveness. He said the institutional mechanism of the policy would include the setting up of the Haryana investment promotion board under the chairmanship of the chief minister to attract domestic as well as foreign direct investment. Also, investment promotion centres would be set up in Delhi and Chandigarh to act as a single-point contact agency to provide information, guidance and other services for venture location by prospective entrepreneurs, especially with regard to various sanctions and approvals needed for the implementation of the projects, availability of land and the present level of infrastructure in the state. The centres would be further strengthened to take up the task of providing single-window services in the case of projects with an investment of Rs 5 crore and above. The centres would act as an operational unit to the high-powered clearance committee and the state-level clearance committee. The government would constitute an investment advisory council under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to advise the state government from time to time on the measures required to be taken to attract domestic as well as foreign direct investment. Prominent industrialists of the country and the state would be associated with this council. The state government would also constitute a joint task force under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister having representatives of industrial associations and government officers to facilitate the hassle-free operation of industry. The task force would consider and suggest amendments to the existing laws and procedures for the smooth implementation of projects. A steering committee would also be constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to coordinate the activities of various departments connected with industrial development. |
|
Industrial security force to be wound up
Chandigarh, June 6 The previous state government had passed the Act to provide the force to autonomous bodies, industrial undertakings, including private industry, etc. Mr Hooda said nearly 3,500 personnel had already been recruited in the force and the total annual expenditure needed to sustain it would come to over Rs 40 crore. He said the persons who would lose their jobs as a result of the decision could apply again when the state government carried out recruitments for its police force. The Cabinet also decided to take out Group B posts from the purview of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) for the smooth functioning of government departments as it was apparently felt that the HPSC was not able to send its recommendations well in time. The Cabinet also decided to reserve 33 per cent posts for women for direct recruitments of teachers. The reservation would be “vertical”, (33 per cent in each category of the reservation already made in the general category). There would be 67 per cent recruitment of males and 33 per cent females. Similarly, in each reserved category, there would also be 67 per cent reservation for males and 33 per cent for females. The decision, Mr Hooda said, would improve the employment opportunities for women in the state. The presence of more women teachers in schools would infuse a sense of security among rural girl students and consequently result in the higher enrolment of girls, Mr Hooda said. The Cabinet also decided to enhance the educational qualifications of JBT teachers by amending the Haryana Primary Education (Group C) District Cadre Service Rules, 1994. The academic qualifications of JBT teachers have now been enhanced from present 10 plus two level to graduation with English as an optional or elective subject. The Cabinet decided to exempt tractors and combine harvesters from the payment of registration fee in the larger interest of farmers. This exemption would involve an annual financial implication of Rs 32 lakh to the state exchequer. The Cabinet approved the draft of the Haryana Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, 2005, aimed at bringing down the revenue deficit to zero by 2008-09, reducing the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) by 2009-10 and containing the total debt liability, including state guarantees, to 28 per cent of the GSDP. The Bill would be introduced in the coming session of the state Assembly. The Cabinet cleared the transfer free of cost of land measuring 10 kanals and 3 marlas of the Public Works Department at Dharuhera in Rewari district to the Revenue Department for the construction of a building of the sub-tehsil. The Cabinet decided to introduce legislation to divest the Haryana Public Service Commission of the power to recruit personnel for board and corporations. Henceforth, the boards and corporations of the government would be free to have their own system of selection of candidates for recruitment. The Cabinet also decided to amend the Haryana Public Relations Department Audio Visual (Group C) Service Rules, 1991, to change the period of degree or diploma in art from five years to four years for the recruitment of artistes, art assistants, etc. |
|
Haryana plans waiver scheme for power defaulters
Panchkula, June 6 Highly-placed sources in Haryana Power Utilities say that pending arrears worth Rs 2516 crore from various categories of consumers have led to the financial distress of the Utilities. Over the years, political immunity enjoyed by these defaulting consumers has ensured that a majority of consumers in the state take a cue and stop paying their monthly tariff. It is now proposed to introduce a waiver scheme that will recover a small percentage of dues by collecting this as a monthly installment (of Rs 100- Rs 250 a month), but only if the defaulting consumer pays his monthly bill regularly. The defaulting amount will be recovered over a period of a few years, which will also ensure that the consumer continues to pay the bill for all these years. Top officials in the Power Utilities say that based on the above mentioned premise, they have proposed three waiver schemes to be implemented in the state, including one with a surcharge waiver, and third proposal as a complete waiver in phases after the consumer pays the bill regularly each year. Of these three schemes, the new scheme is likely to be announced within the next couple of days. The poor fiscal health of power sector — mainly because of an all-time high non-payment of tariff — is a major cause of concern for the Congress government in Haryana. Though the demand in the rural sector is going up by about 40 per cent each year, majority of rural consumers are not paying their bills. Every year, deficit in the power sector is increasing by Rs 400 crore. Other than this, the Utilities is facing a cash deficit of Rs 700 crore, which is expected to go up to Rs 900 crore by the end of this year. The debt servicing (loans and interest on loans) alone amounts to Rs 900 crore. Haryana Power Utilities (HPU) has dues worth Rs 2516 crore pending from various categories of consumers — an increase of Rs 700 crore from October, 2004. Arrears worth almost Rs 1150 crore are pending from rural domestic consumers; Rs 377 crore as arrears from tubewell operators; Rs 289 crore from urban consumers; Rs 270 crore from industry, Rs 180 crore from non-domestic consumers and Rs 250 crore from various government offices. Major-Gen B.S. Rathee (retd), Chairman of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL), says that though many waiver schemes have been introduced in the past, but the new scheme will ensure that consumers start paying their bills regularly. “The problem of non-payment of dues was earlier prevalent in Bhiwani, Jind, Rohtak, Mahendragarh and parts of Hansi and Kaithal. Now, others in rural areas of Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and parts of Kaithal district have taken the cue and stopped paying their monthly bills,” he says. |
|
Police parties on trail of Pataudi,
Jhajjar, June 6 The police had registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Wildlife Protection Act against them late last night. It had recovered the carcasses of a deer and two wild rabbits from two vehicles in which the eight accused were travelling on the night of June 3. Mr
V.N. Rai, Inspector-General of Police, Rohtak Range, said a case had also been registered today against Mr Naresh Kadian, chief of the Haryana branch of People For Animals – a well-known non-government organisation (NGO). He has been booked under Sections 186, 332, 353 and 429 of the IPC and Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. He has been charged with preventing government officials from discharging their lawful duty. Notably, Mr Kadian had visited the town last evening and forcibly exhumed the carcass of the deer from the ground where it had been buried after the post-mortem and taken it with him to Delhi. The police has also sent another police party to Delhi to bring the carcass of the deer back. It is reported to be lying on the premises of the Delhi zoo, officials said. Significantly, the post-mortem report is yet to be submitted. The report will determine whether the carcass was that of a black buck which is an endangered species and is covered by Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Act. Meanwhile, the Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr K.L. Manhas, also arrived here today for a departmental probe. CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said that there was no “political pressure” on the investigating agencies in the poaching case allegedly concerning Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and seven others. “There is no political pressure in the case. I don’t interfere in such things,” Mr Hooda told reporters here. Asked if Mr Pataudi could be arrested in the case, he said “the law will take its own course” and declined to comment any further. He said the police was investigating the matter and the post-mortem report was still awaited. |
|
12-year-old raped
Karnal, June 6 As per the details available, Neelam (name changed), a resident of Chora village, Gharaunda block, was allegedly abducted by a youth of the same village. He kept the girl in Panipat where he allegedly raped her. The police arrested the youth from Panipat and brought the girl to the Civil Hospital here for a medical check-up. It was confirmed from the medical test that she was allegedly raped. |
|
Father kills 2-month-old son
Baandh (Panipat), June 6 While the sarpanch of the village, Mr Jagminder Singh, and several villagers confirmed the incident, the role of the police came under cloud as instead of booking the accused, it was reportedly trying to hush up the case. A number of villagers on condition of anonymity told The Tribune that Jai Kumar stabbed his son, Shaubagya, to death on Saturday night. One of the neighbours said that the child was mercilessly stabbed in the neck and the abdomen. The villagers said Jai Kumar fled soon after attacking Shaubagya. When other family members came to know about the incident, they took the child to a doctor, the neighbour added. Instead of reporting the matter to the police, the body of the child was buried in the presence of some of the villagers yesterday. While none of the family members of Jai Kumar, including his father, Hawa Singh, could be contacted, some of the villagers said Jai Kumar earlier also tried to strangulate his son. On the contrary, the police was reportedly trying to hush up the case. When contacted, the Samalkha DSP, Mr Pradeep Kumar, said Jai Kumar had not killed the child but he died because of diarrhoea. Mr Pardeep Kumar said the SHO of Israna, Mr Harender Sharma, had recorded the statements of several villagers and they had told the police that the child died of diarrhoea. |
|
62 JBT teachers await joining duties
Karnal, June 6 These teachers were recruited by the Chautala government on December 15, last
year. The Chairman of the selection committee at that time was the then Additional Deputy Commissioner of Karnal, Mr Lajvir Singh. Unfortunately, the very next day of the selections, the Election Commission announced the schedule of elections. As many as 356 teachers immediately joined the services, thereby, allegedly violating the model code of conduct of the poll. The remaining 62 of them could not join the services as the EC raised objections against the selections. These teachers filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking justice. The Advocate-General of Haryana, Mr H.S. Hooda, in a reply filed before the court few weeks back had promised that the affected teachers would be made to join the service as soon as possible after completing the departmental formalities. However, even after this assurance, the District Primary Education Officer of Karnal had not allowed them to join service with a plea that summer vacations were in progress and their joining during this time period would put an extra financial burden on the state exchequer. Interestingly, the present Additional Deputy Commissioner of Karnal, Mr Sanjiv Verma, had also asked the District Primary Education Officer to allow these selected teachers to join the service, but nothing has been done in this regard. On the other hand, 356 teachers who had already joined the service five months back had not yet got their salaries even for a single month. |
|
Selja takes stock of flood prevention steps
Ambala, June 6 Addressing a meeting of officials at the Panchayat Bhavan, she said different government programmes must be effectively implemented so that the common man got relief. She expressed concern over last year’s flood that affected
Naggal, Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment Assembly segments. She said efforts must be undertaken to ensure that similar flood did not occur again. Officers from irrigation, public health, municipal council, health, food and supplies, revenue, power, public works and police departments were present in the meeting. The Ambala DC Mr J.P. Kaushik said a sum of Rs 1.25 crore was being spent on widening Gurguria nullah in Ambala Cantonment. He said that on the demand of Ambala Cantonment MLA Devender Bansal, Haathi Khana drain was also going to be cleaned. He said steps were being taken for flood prevention in the Baldev Nagar area and the four major drains in Ambala City were being cleaned by the municipal council. |
|
Notices issued for not
vacating official houses
Karnal, June 6 While talking to The Tribune, he said the officials had been issued notice as to why not penalty be imposed on them as per the existing rules. The DM said all the officials were supposed to vacate the houses within two months of their transfer, from here, however, they continued the possession for more than one year after their transfers. Among those whom notices had been issued, included former Tehsildar of Karnal, Mr Sant Lal Tehsildar, former Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Devinder Yadav, former Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Lajvir Singh, another HCS official Mr RC Verma and four other officials of various departments. It may be mentioned that a few officials who were recently posted here were facing housing problems. |
|
Car-borne youths loot Rs 64,622 from bank
Sonepat, June 6 According to a report, the suspects arrived in a car and were armed with pistols and knives. Three of them were masked. They entered the bank and aimed pistols and knives at the bank employees manning the counters. All the bank employees were driven to one place and were confined there. Thereafter, they snatched Rs 64,622 from the counter clerk, Mr Jaiveer, and left the premises of the bank immediately. The branch manager of the bank, Mr V.K. Sharma, immediately informed the police about the incident. The police launched a hunt for the culprits. The police has registered a case and further investigations were in progress. |
|
Committee to examine gurdwara panel issue
Chandigarh, June 6 The panel would be free to meet all kinds of people, including SGPC members from Punjab, to assess the feasibility of the demand raised by a section of the SGPC members from Haryana, Mr Hooda said. He played down criticism by the SGPC chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, for his allegedly backing the demand for a separate gurdwara panel for Haryana, and said the Bibi presented him with a siropa when he visited the Golden Temple after becoming the Chief Minister. |
|
Man electrocuted while stealing wire
Panipat, June 6 According to information, Raj Kumar had climbed on an electricity poll during a power cut but the power supply was resumed when he started cutting the wire for stealing. As a result, he received an electric shock. He was taken to Bhim Sen Sachar Civil Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. |
|
Migrant electrocuted
Karnal, June 6 Aadeen, a migrant labourer from Bihar, and his colleague Manoj were working at the construction site on the railway road. During the lunch break, they took iron rods to break dry twigs from a tree for use as fuel in the chullah to make their meals. The rods got in touch with the open electricity wire passing through the branches of the tree. Aadeen died on the spot while Manoj had a narrow escape. |
|
Thieves strike at 2 chemist shops
Ambala, June 6 The robbery was noticed when an employee of Anand Medical opened the shop this morning. The employee Ilam Singh, noticed that medicines were scattered all over the shop floor. He immediately informed the owner. Robbers had broken open the shop shutter. They then broke the common wall and entered the adjoining chemist shop. A police official opined that the robbers were apparently aware of the medicines they were looking for. He said only expensive medicines had been taken away by the robbers. Medicines worth Rs 3 lakh are said to have been stolen. |
|
21 booked on charge of bogus voting
Hisar, June 6 The case has been registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Mr Ashok Malik, Duty Magistrate, posted at Booth Nos 51, 52 and 53 in the Mill Gate area. |
|
A correction
Mr Joginder Singh Aharwan is the president of the Haryana unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal and not of the SGPC as mentioned in the news report, “Haryana SGPC seeks apology from Hooda” published in the June 5 issue of The Tribune. The error is regretted. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
